An Open Door Policy

There are two practices at the end of the Seder that are commonly associated with each other, though they are not necessarily connected. The two practices are: opening the front door after drinking the third cup of wine and filling up the Kos Shel Eliyahu. The Rema explains that the reason we open the front door is to demonstrate our complete trust in Hashem. Pesach night is Leil Shimurim, and we symbolically declare that we are not afraid of the dangers of the night; we have faith in Hashem. We hope that through the merit of this display of bitachon we will merit the ultimate redemption when Hashem will pour out His wrath on the nations that have tormented us. The reason we pour a cup for Eliyahu HaNavi is because we are declaring our belief in the Ultimate Redemption, which will be heralded by Eliyahu HaNavi. Eliyahu HaNavi will not come on erev yom tov so we hope he will come on the night of the Seder. (Some say though that Eliyahu HaNavi will not come on yom tov either.) The Matteh Moshe specifically links these two practices and says that we open the door ready to greet Eliyahu HaNavi. So firm is our belief in the redemption that if Eliyahu will come on the Seder night to herald the Final Redemption, we want to greet him with an open door. However, there are those who indicate that the Kos Shel Eliyahu be poured at the beginning of the Seder. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch discusses this extra cup during the laws of kiddush. The implication is that this cup should be on the table the entire Seder night. Indeed, the Shu”t Shtei HaLechem writes that the custom in many German and Italian communities was to have the Kos Shel Eliyahu on display from the beginning of the Seder. Evidently, it’s not directly connected to opening the door which only takes place at the end of the Seder. Some parents offer a different explanation to link the two customs. There is a medrash that Eliyahu HaNavi attends every bris. So too, we pour a Kos Shel Eliyahu because we hope Eliyahu HaNavi will visit our Seder and we open the door to welcome Eliyahu to our home. However, there is no traditional source for this practice. There is no medrash that says that Eliyahu HaNavi visits every home on the Seder night. However, there are chassidishe sources for this custom. Some chassidishe sources, in fact, cite that the Node BeYehuda would look to greet Eliyahu HaNavi at the end of the Seder. There is an alternate reason offered by the commentators for opening the door at the end of the Seder. The Korban Pesach was allowed to be eaten outside of the Beis Hamikdash. Still, the halacha is that, like all kodshim kalim, the Korban Pesach must be eaten in Yerushalayim. Rav states that only the ground floors of houses were sanctified with the holiness of Yerushalayim. The second floors and the roofs, while being physically located in Yerushalayim, did not have the same sanctity. (Pesachim 85b) Therefore, one was not allowed to eat the Korban Pesach on the upper stories or the roof of his Jerusalem home. The Gemara in Megilla (26a) says that the residents of Yerushalayim were not allowed to rent out their rooms to the masses who came to the Beis Hamikdosh for the holiday. They had to provide lodging free of charge. Understandably, fitting all the distant relatives and strangers into one’s home made it quite crowded. The Gemara says that after the Korban Pesach meal (and bentching with the third cup), people would go to the roof to say Hallel. (Pesachim 86a) The Baal HaMaor says the reason was to escape the intense overcrowding. Perhaps it was also to make room for others to eat from their Korban Pesach. The Mishna Berura codifies this practice as halacha; there is no issue of saying Hallel and drinking the fourth cup in a different place than the first three. However, one was not allowed to eat the Korban Pesach in two places. Therefore, while the Korban Pesach was being consumed, the door was bolted. People were not allowed to leave. Afterward, the door was opened, and people exited to the roof. Rav Yosef Salant says that our minhag of opening the door after bentching before the completion of Hallel hearkens back to the times when we had a real Korban Pesach. They used to follow this practice of opening the door to the roof after the Korban Pesach before Hallel. Still, the Chasam Sofer finds problematic the Baal Hamaor’s supposition that the homes in Yerushalayim were crowded during the holidays. The Mishna in Avos (5:5) states that no one ever said it was too crowded to find a place to sleep in Yerushalayim. If that is true of lying down and sleeping, all the more so of eating, which requires less space! The Chasam Sofer says that a careful reading of the Mishna reveals the answer. Indeed, Yerushalayim was very crowded, but no one ever complained! No one ever said it was too crowded! He adduces proof to this from earlier in the very same Mishna that says that people stood pressed together in the Beis Hamikdash but miraculously had room to bow down. Evidently, there was overcrowding while standing, but no one ever complained!